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Stunt Food Alert: 5 Up and Comers in SF

Last weekend, Papalote Mexican Grill sold 180 Soulrritos — a burrito filled with macaroni and cheese and fried chicken — in just 49 minutes. The weekend before, the restaurant sold 60 Soulrritos with tri tip in a half hour. Though the two-time event was conceived as a fun collaboration between two chefs that pleased a lot of eaters, the unlikely ingredients had some decrying the woes of stunt food fatigue.

But stunt food can be awesome when it’s done with care and imagination, as was the case with the Soulrrito. Here are five more crazy ideas that are positively stunting for your attention right now — and with no lines:

Fried chicken and waffle Monte Cristo at Straw

(Photo above) The stunt food freak flag is flown high at Straw, a cafe based entirely on carnival fare. And since regular chicken and waffles are so boring, they’ve recently decided to sandwich fried chicken strips, raspberry jam, and Swiss cheese between a double-wide Belgian waffle that’s been doused in powdered sugar, with a side of maple syrup at the ready. You’ll be good tomorrow.

Crab macarons at Aveline

Two-time Top Chef contestant Casey Thompson has relocated from Texas to open her first restaurant (Aveline) and bar (The European) in San Francisco’s Warwick Hotel, both of which debut today. Her opening menu features the intriguing-sounding Dungeness crab macarons, which aren’t the almond-based French confections but just a visual signifier for round sandwiches served on ginger-and-scallion buttered toast. Damn.

Totchos at Wes Burger

Wes Burger pops up on Wednesdays at the Mojo Bicycle Cafe and sporadically at other places such as Virgil’s Sea Room. He doesn’t offer fries with his burgers, but you can quench your starchy side dish craving with an order of tater tots smothered in queso, salsa verde, and crema and topped with pickled jalapeños.

Wonuts and ponuts at CDXX

A Bayview cafe named after the Roman numerals for 420, CDXX loves introducing hybrid foods on the menu; right now, for example, you can get a burger with grilled cheese sandwich buns. Following the crispy fried cronut knock-off that has been on the menu since opening in January are two newer mash-ups. The wonut is a fried and Vermont maple glazed waffle served plain or stuffed with fried chicken bits, while the ponut is a breaded and fried pancake currently topped with blueberries and Greek yogurt.

Potsticker burrito at Hella Vegan Eats

One look at this bundle of sesame jasmine rice, vegetable-stuffed potstickers, plum sauce, sweet chile sauce, pickled daikon and carrot, and organic greens in a flour tortilla is enough to be convinced that vegans are anything but deprived. Hella Vegan Eats is an East Bay pop-up that most frequently appears in San Francisco at Dear Mom; catch it there this Sunday (June 8) from 5-11 p.m.

All photos courtesy of the restaurant, except totchos photo by Maggie Engebretson.